The Phoenix and the Unicorn

by Peter Hinssen

This is a book about the Phoenix, about those companies that – just like the mythical bird – are able to rethink themselves in cycles: time and time again they rise from the ashes of the old, and come out stronger than ever before. They are the Walmarts, the Volvos, the Disneys, the Apples, the Microsofts. This book can be purchased in English or Dutch.

https://shop.peterhinssen.com/product...

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

237 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Dominiek Leenknecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naar mijn smaak het beste en meest praktische boek dat Peter Hinssen ooit heeft geschreven. Terwijl ik zijn vorige boeken vaak een combinatie van "paniekvoering" en herkauwde voorbeelden vond, is "The Phoneix and the Unicorn" wel het perfecte boek om met een directie of Raad Van Bestuur aande slag te gaan: een zeer geslaagde combinatie van theoretische modellen, voorbeelden van bedrijven die goed/minder goed met zulke modellen omgaan en concrete vragen die je je kan stellen om stap voor stap je bedrijf te moderniseren. Het "nieuwe normaal" wordt door dit boek wel heel goed en generalistisch samengevat. Heeft het met technologie te maken? Absoluut. Maar ook - en in de eerste plaats - met de veranderende wereld, met de structuur/cultuur die in een bedrijf moet heersen, met de "curiosity" die nodig is om tot innovatie te leiden en met de innovatie-keuzes die een bedrijf kan en moet maken.

Mijn persoonlijke les? Ik wil professioneel liefst een DKWID-persoon worden: Don't Know What I'm Doing. Want dat brengt de leukste, pittigste en meest leerrijke uitdagingen met zich mee!

[Hans De Leenheer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are in a corporate environment and you're not sure you're ready for "the Day after Tomorrow", you HAVE to have read this book! Everyone that works in the Innovation Consultancy business has to have this book as a must-read for their next customer. It fits right in between a book on vision and a how-to.

[Jan Longeval · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike most management books, that seem to be written by people lacking proper experience in the field and relying on far-fetched and self-produced anecdotes, this one feels like it has been written both from experience and from a deep personal conviction. The author has a no-nonsense style and makes a great case for no-nonsense management, something many large 'old' corporations lack dearly. The book is rich in real-life examples and personal anecdotes, the author excels at telling a good story. One point on which I disagree is the lightheartedness around the use or rather the abuse of personal data by tech companies, and later on by governments (eg the Big Reset). All in all a very enjoyable read, a management tool that reads like a novel.

[Kurt · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is more unicorn with a mishmash of buzzwords with overdone list of the usual suspects (Uber, google etc). You’ll be better of reading Leading Change by John Kotter

[Dennis Janssen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, which focuses on the way incumbents can change to fit to these
Disruptive times and less on the start ups.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provided relevant examples for large companies to continuously innovate.

Read for work lol

[Jesse Geens · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting introductory book to transforming old behemoths of companies into something fit for the 21st century. There are some interesting models presented in the book, such as the hourglass model. However, I felt this book could as well have been summarized in a blog post without much loss of information. There is a lot of anecdotes etc. that impede the reading a bit in my opinion (I know who David Cameron is and I don't need a list of which movies he directed).